The Angels are one of the teams that helped slap Alex Rodriguez with a sticky reputation for failing in the clutch. They held him to a .133 average and an assortment of off-kilter swings in the 2005 ALDS.

Heading into Friday night’s opener of the ALCS, the Angels are faced with the weighty task of repeating history.

Don’t think they don’t know what they’re up against.

“You see the highlights,” Angels pitcher Jered Weaver said. “You see that he kind of broke out of his little playoff slump, or whatever you want to call it. Even though his numbers in the playoffs are what they are, he’s a good enough hitter to get himself out of that.”

Rodriguez is fighting a considerable tide trying to change public opinion. Though he has batted .291 over his career in the postseason, two dismal Octobers have been hard to shake.

Rodriguez was coming off his second MVP season when he went ice cold against the Angels four years ago. The following season against the Detroit Tigers, he was worse: He had one hit in 15 at-bats.

Rodriguez seems to have found his playoff legs, at last. He went 5-for-11 with two home runs against Minnesota in the ALDS.

That followed a torrid end to the regular season, one that started with hip surgery and a five-week stay on the disabled list. Rodriguez batted .344 with seven home runs and 30 RBIs after Sept. 1.

One of Rodriguez’s ALDS home runs came on an outside pitch that he pushed over the right-field wall in Minnesota.

It got Angels pitcher Scott Kazmir’s attention.

“When he’s going the other way, hitting line drives over the wall, that’s when you know he’s going good,” Kazmir said.

One could argue that Rodriguez is not the best hitter in a powerful, circular Yankees lineup. Mark Teixeira did far more damage and is among a small pool of contenders for the AL MVP award. No one has ever accused Derek Jeter of being a failure in the clutch.

But Rodriguez rarely does anything that doesn’t get the Angels’ attention. He has stung them over the years, batting .328 with 67 home runs and 151 RBIs against the team in 667 career at-bats.

They got him to chase bad pitches in the 2005 ALDS, something he rarely does. Can they do it again?

The last thing the Angels were going to do two days before the series was divulge their plans for pitching to one of the most dangerous hitters in the series.

“I mean, he’s hot right now. There ain’t a bunch of holes in his swing, that’s for sure,” catcher Jeff Mathis said. “But there are ways to get him out.”

Pitching coach Mike Butcher encourages Angels pitchers to work to their strengths rather than a hitter’s weaknesses, he said.

“We’re not going to change anything we do. Hopefully, he hits a ground ball or swings and mishits a fly ball,” Butcher said.

It’s fair to say they will handle Rodriguez with care.

Because of his selective approach, Rodriguez might wind up walking a lot, shifting some of the pressure to Hideki Matsui and hitters deep in the Yankees order. Seven of the Yankees’ nine starters hit at least 20 home runs.

“If there’s an open base, let him have it,” Weaver said. “You don’t want to have one guy beat you. At the same time, you want to stay aggressive. It’s going to work both ways, I think.”

John Lackey, who starts Game 1 for the Angels, said he watched nearly every inning of the Yankees’ ALDS on television. He is aware of who – and what – he is up against.

“He’s good, but you can’t focus on one guy in that lineup. They’re too deep,” Lackey said. “You’ve got to keep guys off base in front of him and limit some damage.”